Andrew Demetriou says Essendon will not get a soft landing Mark Robinson
From: Herald Sun
July 15, 2013 9:31PMAFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says people should not assume he has set the scene for a soft landing for Essendon in the drugs scandal.
Demetriou said his comments about the "classification issue" of anti-obesity drug AOD-9604 should not be construed as a sign the league was pre-empting the outcome of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority inquiry into the club's supplements program.
He said he was answering a question about the drug that the World Anti-Doping Agency says is banned, but an Australian Crime Commission report said was not on the prohibited list.
"I wasn't pre-empting or softening ... it was one of the more nonsensical things I've heard," Demetriou said.
"I was asked, 'Does the AFL believe AOD-9604 was a banned substance?' I said I'm not giving a running commentary but I will say there is some uncertainty about the status of AOD-9604.
"Why don't people listen to the whole interview (with 3AW's Neil Mitchell).
"We have not got the final report ... and once we get the report, we'll know."
The AFL Commission briefly discussed the drugs saga on Monday night. Demetriou said possible penalties were not raised.
"Because it may or may not come before the commission, we don't discuss much because the report is not finished," he said.
The report is expected next month but will not have any input from the man at the centre of the scandal, sports scientist Stephen Dank.
Despite recently urging Dank to talk to ASADA, Demetriou said Dank had spoken to the ACC.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/andrew-demetriou-says-essendon-will-not-get-a-soft-landing/story-fndv8gad-1226679834717#mm-breached